EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Chatworth's Laura Burlington to lose her childhood home - in the family for 400 years - as it goes on the market for £11.4 million
She's chatelaine of the most palatial house in the land — a role she assumed last year when her parents-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, decided to make way for the next generation at Chatsworth in Derbyshire.
But Laura Burlington, wife of the Duke's only son and heir, Bill, could be forgiven for feeling a little heartbroken.
For I can disclose that her own childhood home, a magnificent Jacobean pile in Cheshire built by her forebears, is up for sale after being in the family for 400 years.
Dorfold Hall has been put on the market for £11.4 million by Laura's younger brother, Charles Roundell. Dorfold has ten bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a library, a billiard room, a housekeeper's flat, a clocktower, a tennis court, a lake, an icehouse, four cottages and two walled gardens in 16 acres of grounds. The decision to sell appears to be the opposite of what Charles intended when he and his American wife, Candice, took over the Hall from his parents in 2017.
Dorfold's website, describing the couple as 'visionaries', explains that the Hall was 'in a state of disrepair and facing a rather gloomy future'.
Laura Burlington (pictured, right) could be forgiven for feeling a little heartbroken. For I can disclose that her own childhood home, a magnificent Jacobean pile in Cheshire built by her forebears, is up for sale after being in the family for 400 years.
Dorfold Hall (pictured) has been put on the market for £11.4 million by Laura's younger brother, Charles Roundell
So they undertook 'huge amounts of renovation in order to propel the estate into a new era', and commissioned award-winning new buildings for weddings, parties and corporate events.
The couple decline to comment on the sale or on their plans for 53 new houses and a pub — plans which have been 'recommended for refusal' by the local council's housing officer.
Their departure seems likely to sadden Charles's parents, Richard, a former vice chairman of auctioneers Christie's, and Anthea, whose kinsmen include the Earl of Dartmouth.
'I think Anthea is going to be particularly hard hit by the loss of the Hall,' a chum tells me.
Hannah goes hoarse but wins gong contest
She was lauded for performing Time After Time in front of Prince William at this year's Bafta awards, but Hannah Waddingham suffers for her art.
The Ted Lasso star reveals that her busy workload has affected her vocal cords. 'I'm constantly losing my voice because of things like this,' she tells me at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards at the Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair, where she won Best Entertainment Presenter for hosting the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.
She was lauded for performing Time After Time in front of Prince William at this year's Bafta awards, but Hannah Waddingham (pictured, at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in March) suffers for her art
The Ted Lasso star (pictured, with Jason Sudeikis) reveals that her busy workload has affected her vocal cords
Despite her ailments, the actress, singer and presenter, 49, enjoys her varied career, saying: 'It's much more fun to be a multi-hyphenate.'
Deliciously Ella missed being Mum
Food blogger 'Deliciously Ella' Mills's health food empire is now worth around £60 million — yet she regrets the toll it has taken on her family life.
Referring to the birth of her daughter Skye, now four, she says: 'We had to go back to work after four weeks, which was, obviously, really challenging. I was always "Go, go".
'And, as a result, I feel I missed so much of her first six months or so because I was not present at all.'
Food blogger 'Deliciously Ella' Mills's (pictured) health food empire is now worth around £60 million — yet she regrets the toll it has taken on her family life
Ella, 32, the daughter of supermarket heiress Camilla Sainsbury and former Cabinet minister Shaun Woodward, says her husband, Matthew Mills, quickly bonded with Skye: 'He was obsessed with "skin to skin". He would take off his shirt, lay on the bed with her on his chest, and they would sleep together. I feel like I missed that.'
A picture of sadness… Artist Emin mourns ex love Tommy Mack
Artist Tracey Emin is, I hear, among those mourning Tommy Mack, the ex dancer and Ibiza DJ, who died on Monday aged 67 after a Saturday night of hard partying with his pal, 'Lord' Eddie Davenport.
Emin, 60, was 15 and besotted with Mack when they embarked on a relationship. The experience is thought to have helped shape her career.
Artist Tracey Emin (pictured) is, I hear, among those mourning Tommy Mack, the ex dancer and Ibiza DJ, who died on Monday aged 67 after a Saturday night of hard partying with his pal, 'Lord' Eddie Davenport
In 2009, handwritten letters that she had sent him — including drawings of her and Mack — were sold at auction by a collector.
Marquess installs 100 'naked' figures in park
Some strange, slightly sinister figures have been spotted in the grounds of the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley’s stately home, Houghton Hall, in recent days.
The Norfolk neighbours of the Prince and Princess of Wales have had 100 life-size iron statues, which resemble naked people, installed by artist Sir Antony Gormley, best known for the Angel of the North sculpture in Gateshead.
'We have this wonderful park and it is ideal for sculpture,' explains Lord Cholmondeley, 63, aka film-maker David Rocksavage.
'We have this wonderful park and it is ideal for sculpture,' explains Lord Cholmondeley, 63, aka film-maker David Rocksavage (pictured)
The Norfolk neighbours of the Prince and Princess of Wales have had 100 life-size iron statues, which resemble naked people, installed by artist Sir Antony Gormley, best known for the Angel of the North sculpture (pictured) in Gateshead
Lord Cholmondeley, whose wife, Rose, turned 40 recently, admits to feeling 'slightly apprehensive' about the sculptures — some of which are partially buried — that make up the work, called Time Horizon.
The Royal Family's favourite choral composer John Rutter, who wrote This Is The Day for the Prince and Princess of Wales's wedding, has blown a loud raspberry at the decision by St John's College, Cambridge, to scrap one of its choirs, St John’s Voices.
Rutter has called the move 'a huge mistake', saying: 'If Cambridge University and its colleges are not prepared to take the lead in championing excellence, then who is?'
